Chocolatier spreads sweetness from Cedarhurst to Israel

From Le Chocolat on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst to Cacao Hagalil in Northern Israel, Chanie Koenig has shared sweets and positivity globally.

“I really enjoy what I do,” Koenig said. “I love working with chocolate and I enjoy the people that I encounter. People who come into a candy store, generally, are happy people, unless you’re coming in because you need chocolate because you’re in a bad mood, but I’m happy to make people smile.”

Koenig grew up in Woodmere and lived there for 26 years. She worked at Le Chocolat and later Jacques Torres Chocolates in New York City. Koenig attended culinary school then made the move to Israel at 29, following a dream of hers, “to return to her roots,” she said.

“I decided that it was the right time for me to move and I thought if I didn’t do it then I was never going to,” Koenig said.

She grew up religious, her grandfather was from Israel and she had always hoped to find a home there.

Despite her culinary background, Koenig had no intention of starting a business. However, she took the initiative to start her chocolate company, so her nephew with lactose intolerance could eat sweets.

The solution was goat’s milk.

“He and a lot of people who are sensitive to lactose can tolerate goat milk,” Koenig said. “It’s easier to digest. It’s got smaller lactose molecules.”

Cacao Hagalil started out of Koenig’s home in 2021. She had worked at another chocolate company in Israel for a year, and then Covid sent her home, so she took to trying her own recipes and distributing chocolates on her own.

“I wanted to make sure that it was really a business that would grow and something that was worthwhile to pursue, I really wanted to see that there was a market for it,” Koenig said.

She then moved into a storefront in 2023. Some of her greatest challenges were understanding legal regulations in Hebrew, Koenig said. Since Oct. 7, Koenig’s business has seen fewer customers she said, due to Northern Israelis being evacuated, but her location on a kubutz and partnership with the local country club has maintained some consistent visitors.

“There’s no tourism, for obvious reasons,” Koenig said referring to the Hamas-Israel war. “People who live in the center of the country are nervous to travel to the north. I have no tourism, and I have people who would usually be traveling, doing less of that.”

But she has maintained a positive attitude and with that, a positive impact on Israelis with baking workshops and welcoming people in, she said.

“I had a family of grandparents that came in with their grandkids and they were looking for something for them to do, because now a lot of people are nervous about traveling and they can’t travel to certain areas,” Koenig said. “We simply just can’t travel to areas and I was happy to give them an escape.”

Nefesh B’Nefesh, which supports Aliyah (immigration to Israel), and Jerusalem Municipality, hosted a two-day Shuk Olim showcase, for Olim-owned businesses — business owners who moved to Israel from other countries.

“It is remarkable to witness Olim transform their passions into unique businesses that are now part of the Israeli market,” Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh said.

Koenig appreciates the views them as a way to share her products, but also help other business owners.

“Every workshop I do, and every purchase that’s made, I think I get a lot learned from it,” Koenig said.